Aug 9 First Lines, 08/09/14

"For three weeks or more, the letter carrier struggled to shove more mail into his mailbox. After two notices, the electric company showed up and put a bicycle lock on his circuit breaker, disconnecting his service. His neighbors began to suspect that he'd left during the night. And then, his neighbors began to notice the smell of death lingering around their back doors, and wondered if they should call someone."

Based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Damien Willis is a newspaper columnist and communications professional. He generally writes about entertainment, pop culture and the ways we pass our time in the 21st century.